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Black Hawk, Colorado - Alex Greenblatt has been a force to be reckoned with on the poker circuit for several years. It wasn't until Monday, though, that the young poker pro secured his first major title. Greenblatt beat out a field of 542 entries at Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour to win the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Main Event and $179,274.
"This is probably my greatest poker accomplishment so far," said the new champ. "I had no marquee wins yet, so this is the first big one."
The six-figure victory pushes Greenblatt's career earnings over the $1 million mark. This was the San Francisco, California man's third appearance under the bright lights of an HPT final table.
Greenblatt faced a large chip deficit against opponent Matt Livingston when the final two players squared off for the title. The eventual champ stayed patient and waited for good spots to make moves, ultimately turning that deficit into a large chip lead. On the final hand, Greenblatt's ace-nine held up against Livingston's ace-six and ended the tournament. Livingston, a poker player from Windsor, collected $110,747 for his runner-up finish.
Denver's Fernando Galvan was poised and ready for a double up when he put his chips in the middle with pocket aces before the flop against Livingston's king-queen. It wasn't meant to be as Livingston hit two pair and sent Galvan to the rail in third place with $72,583.
The feel-good story of the tournament belonged to Colorado Springs' native, Kevin Boudreau. After suffering a serious brain injury in 2013, Boudreau has made a remarkable life recovery as well as an impressive poker comeback. Early on at the nationally-televised final table, it seemed that today was Boudreau's day. He built a good-sized chip stack and looked ready to make a run at the title until coming out on the losing end of two large pots. Boudreau finished in fourth place and took home $50,434 for his efforts.
Cash game specialist Israel Garcia had never cashed in an HPT Main Event before Monday. He made the most of this one by playing his way to a fifth-place finish, good for $36,650. The Denver native found himself short stacked and in the end, his king-queen couldn't hold up against Livingston's seven-six.
Danny Gonzales has established himself as a staple at HPT final tables in recent years. The Denver man was making his seventh appearance under the lights, six of which have been at Golden Gates. Unfortunately for Gonzales, he'll need to make at least one more to capture his first HPT title. Gonzales was eliminated by Livingston in sixth place for a $28,444 payday.
Bobby Garcia came into the day with one of the smaller stacks in play. He made the most of it, playing well for several hours before losing a proverbial coin flip for all of his chips with ace-king to Israel Garcia's pocket queens. Bobby Garcia finished in seventh place with $23,902.
Golden's Evan Ross made a move early but was eliminated by Boudreau in eighth place. Ross earned $19,919 for that finish. The first player of the day to hit the rail was Ben Greenberg. The Longmont resident only made it two hands into the day before his pocket aces were busted by Boudreau's set of fours. Greenberg collected $15,935 for his ninth-place finish.
HPT is finishing the year out strong with six more scheduled events in 2017. Next up is a trip to Ameristar St. Charles, just outside of St. Louis. That series kicks off Thursday and runs through Oct. 2. For more information, including a full list of upcoming events, visit HPTpoker.com.
